chAngE
by Renchikara
Summary: After a series of unfortunate events in her life, most importantly the part where she watches Ichigo moving on, Rukia has pretty much given up on anything good ever happening again. Then she meets a strange mad man with a big blue box- and her life changes forever. IchiRuki eventually.
1. New Leaf

**Here's some stuff you need to know:**

**1) Starting new FanFictions when you have 11 other non-complete ones that you need to update is not a good idea.**

**2) I hate IchiHime and fully support IchiRuki. Any IchiHime in this story will never last.**

**3) Review (because like every author I want reviews)**

**4) Enjoy ;)**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**New Leaf**

_**'I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old, and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below.**_

_**You got a problem with that?'**_

_**- The Doctor.**_

* * *

It's the same every time she comes to watch. The same ordinary, completely _human_ changes. Just a life being lived, with no upcoming prospects except the usual human achievements. She would hate it, being stuck in that life. But then, how is hers any different? Every day it's wake up, do your job, meet people, talk to them, try not to lose it to the emptiness inside of her.

It's been one year, and she decides to see him again.

She hasn't visited in at least six months, and there really is no pattern in the times she comes to see. Every time she comes back, she briefly witnesses him living his ordinary human life without her, and she tries to convince herself that she is not needed. Why should she be? He always would have kept this routine had she not come along and changed him. What's she really expecting anyway? Does she wish for him to miss her? No. He has moved on, and she is proud of it. And yet, deep down the grief is gnawing away at her and she dearly wishes she could just tell him the proper goodbye that she always wanted to give him-

Forget the past, Rukia. Forget it, because it's gone.

She's a lieutenant now, as her brother has finally accepted her potential as recognisable (her fight and victory with an Espada saw to that) and he perhaps feels she is strong enough to take care of herself. She enjoys it in one particular form- it means she is moving on as well, and that is good.

So, when she visits Karakura Town after one year of absence, she is expecting Ichigo to be studying hard at school, beating up his irritating father, helping his sisters with his homework, the usual.

She does not expect him to be round at Orihime Inoue's house.

Rukia feels a horrible slicing feeling deep within her as she watches Ichigo knock on the front door of Orihime's apartment, to find a bubbly, cheerful orange-haired girl planting a quick but passionate kiss on his lips. What hurts Rukia more is how she sees Ichigo kiss back, because he's obviously enjoying it. As they pull apart after a moment, Orihime whispers something with an excited giggle and Ichigo nods. He steps inside and disappears behind the closing door.

Rukia stands on the roof of the house next the Orihime's apartment, staring down for a long time as the realisation settles inside of her.

Oh, yes. Ichigo certainly has moved on.

* * *

She wonders around for long time, lost in her thoughts. Sode no Shirayuki is always there to comfort her, and Rukia is sincerely grateful for this, but right now there can be no consolation.

From the moment they met, Ichigo was her whole world. She grew to like him so quickly, choosing to give up her Soul Reaper powers to protect him and his family. And when he rescued her from execution and during the aftermath, she was given quite a bit of time to contemplate their relationship. These feelings she was beginning to have were foreign to her, and under normal circumstances she would have found these human emotions disgraceful, especially as she is a Kuchiki. She had time to assess the way she felt about Ichigo. And during the time in Hueco Mundo, as she lay dying having just defeated the ninth Espada, Kaien's face flooded her mind and quickly morphed into Ichigo's. And it was at that moment, just before everything went black, she realised...

… she loved him.

Rukia closes her eyes, knowing that none of it matters any more. But she clings onto it anyway.

_**'Life form in need of upgrading.'**_

Rukia's eyes snap open at the sound of a strange robotic deep voice. She turns around to see the silhouette of a tall human-like creature standing further down the street. With a few metal clangs, it draws closer and Rukia is able to observe its features.

It's a metal man.

The strange silver robot stares at her with empty holes for eyes, it's fists clenched as it stops just mere feet from her. She feels so small in comparison as she stares back, wondering how the thing, whatever it is, is able to see her.

_**'You will be upgraded,' **_comes the empty voice from within the creature. Rukia's hand rests on the hilt of her zanpakutô subconsciously, acknowledging that this robot thing is probably not friendly.

'What do you mean, 'upgraded'?'

_**'You will be upgraded. This is a necessary operation.'**_

'Look,' Rukia growls, 'I don't know what you are or how you can even see me, but I don't need to be 'upgraded'.'

_**'Then you will be deleted.'**_

Quick as a flash, the metal man raises its right hand, flexing out its fingers to grasp her shoulder. Rukia flashsteps out the way just in time and lands behind it, her sword drawn. She lands a blow on its back and is shocked to see that not so much as a dent appears on the metal. The robot spins around and points its clenched-again fist at her, the gun built into its arm immediately firing at her. She flashsteps again and raises her sword, ready for release.

'Dance, Sode-'

A strange whirring noise rings in her ears and the metal man collapses to its knees, clutching where its ears would be, making a robotic moaning noise. Behind it, a man steps forwards and taps it on the head with a strange torch-like device in his hand. The robot falls to the ground, apparently having shut down.

'Finally caught up to you! I don't think anyone's going to be upgraded today. Sorry for the inconvenience,' the man says in a rather playful voice. He straightens the strange red bow tie he's wearing and then turns briefly towards Rukia as he flips the torch thing in mid air and catches it again. 'As you were,' he tells her, and then he turns around and walks off.

'Wh-what?' Rukia stands there, staring at him in shock, and then she begins to run after him.

'Hey! How can see me?'

The man turns around with a confident smile as he points at his face. 'With these funny things here. They're called eyes. They're really useful!'

'Don't mock me!' she shouts. 'Ordinary humans can't see me.'

The man clasps his hands together. 'Well, I'm not exactly an ordinary human.' He looks to the side as if contemplating something. 'Actually, that's completely inaccurate, given that I'm neither...' He looks at her and an analysing look crosses his face, as if he's only just properly noticing her.

'Are we in Japan?' he asks, gesturing at her shihakushô.

Rukia frowns. 'Yes, of course we're in Japan.'

A bright smile crosses over the man's face. 'Oh, that's cool, I'm speaking Japanese! That's new! Wait, no it's not. Honestly, nine hundred years of time and space travel and you actually start forgetting stuff.'

Rukia just stares at him, then she says, 'Who are you?!'

The man grins. 'I'm the Doctor! Oh yes, I really am liking the sound of that! 'I'm the Doctor'! I should introduce myself to people more often! You know, until it starts getting old.'

'And... what was that... _thing?!' _Rukia asks, gesturing wildly behind her at the metal man on the ground behind her.

'That? Oh, that's a Cyberman,' the Doctor says as if it's the most ordinary thing in the world. 'Cybermen in Japan... what next? Daleks in Hawaii?!' He frowns. 'Oh wait, no, that's already happened as well. I really should keep a log.'

'Doctor... who?'

'Oh yeah, I like that too!' the Doctor exclaims, but for a moment a dark look crosses over his face. 'Although, we should keep the question-asking to a minimum, especially with _that _particular question.'

'How many people in Karakura Town can see spirits, anyway?' Rukia says, remembering that first night when she met... _him._

'Oh, I don't live here!' the Doctor says, pulling out that weird torch-like device again, and before Rukia can react he's scanning her up and down with a strange green light being emitted from the device.

'These readings are... impossible.' The Doctor stares at her. 'Way to discombobulate me. Who are you? More importantly... _what_ are you?'

'I'm a Soul Reaper,' Rukia says slowly, contemplating this not-so-comforting sense of déjà vu.

'It says here that you're not even technically... alive,' the Doctor points out, frowning heavily as he gazes at the device. 'The sonic's never wrong. Or at least, hardly ever. You should be dead.'

'I _am_ dead.'

That shuts the Doctor up.

'I'm a spirit being,' Rukia continues. 'A soul. When humans die, they become-'

'Ghosts?!' the Doctor looks delighted. 'You're the seventeenth ghost I've met! Actually, I don't think that one in 1890 counted... didn't really look like a human anyway... I guess that makes you the sixteenth! And... about the fifth most impressive!'

Rukia frowns. 'Only fifth?'

'Oh come on, that's better than nothing...' the Doctor trails off, looking down at Rukia's side. 'Is that a sword? Oh, cool! I've got to move you up to fourth! No, third! Congratulations, you're my third favourite ghost!'

'Are you for real?' Rukia says incredulously. He is, without a doubt, one of the weirdest people she has ever met.

'Absolutely. I'm a Time Lord, I'm over nine hundred years old and I've always wanted one of those swords!' he says with a grin. 'Are you like a samurai or something?'

'I told you, I'm a Soul Reaper.'

'A 'Soul Reaper'? Is that a good thing or a bad thing, 'cause it sounds like a bad thing and I don't like bad things, as I usually have to stop bad things from doing more bad things.' He says this all very quickly without taking a breath.

Rukia stares at him, wondering exactly how insane he is. 'I've told you what I am- now it's your turn. You've made it clear you're not human.'

'Me? Oh, it's not that important-'

_**'Exterminate.'**_

'Get down!' the Doctor yells, and before Rukia can say anything he has pushed her down. They both land on the ground and a blue laser fires above their heads.

'What the-?' Rukia gasps.

'Whoa, Daleks and Cybermen! It's like London all over again!'

The Doctor leaps to his feet and pulls Rukia up with him. 'It's probably a good idea if we just...' He fixes her with an excited smile, '… run.'


	2. Ghost Girl

**Thanks for the awesome reviews, it seems that you all seem to be pleased with the concept. And now I bring you Chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**And remember- I hate IchiHime. It will _never _last.**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Ghost Girl**

'_**All of you, stay in the light. Find a nice bright spot and stand. If you understand me look very very scared. No. A bit more scared than that. Okay, good for now.'**_

_**- The Doctor.**_

* * *

'What are those things?!' Rukia yells as she and the Doctor run along.

'Well, the first one's a Cyberman and the second one's a Dalek. If the dangerous enemies are appearing in any particular order then…' He stops running and looks directly at Rukia. 'How good are you at not blinking?'

She frowns, also stopping. 'What?'

'Nothing, just some rather unwanted possibilities. Let's hope they stay like that.' He continues running, and after a moment of hesitation, Rukia flashteps directly in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

'Whoa! How'd you do that?!' He stares at her in shock.

'Flashstep. One of the abilities of a Soul Reaper,' Rukia replies. 'You seem unfazed by the existence of the supernatural.'

'As do you,' he grins.

'So we can both agree that we have experience with the events that ordinary humans cannot see.'

'Perhaps because neither of us are human.'

'You're a… Time Lord. What does that mean?'

'It means I'm an alien, from the planet Gallifrey,' he says, watching her closely for signs of disbelief. She doesn't seem shocked in the least. 'I have two hearts,' he continues, 'and twenty-seven brains. No, that's a lie, forget that. One brain, but a very clever brain, mind you. And why don't you tell me about you?'

Rukia decides to be honest. She has no possible way of explaining why- after all, she is talking to madman, and you don't generally explain the supernatural truth to crazy people, but Rukia's mind has been in a stressful tumble all night, and she is in a weird way kind of relieved that this strange stuff is happening.

After all, it took her mind off Ichigo.

'I'm from the Soul Society,' she says, now her turn to see whether there's a limit to how much he can take in. 'It is the duty of a Soul Reaper to cleanse the souls of Hollows, evil spirits, and to send the ordinary souls to the Soul Society.'

'The Soul Society… is that like the afterlife?' he asks, tilting his head.

'Yes,' she confirms.

'Cool, you'll have to show me that later,' he says, looking thoroughly excited. 'That whole magic super speed thing has gotta move you up to two… no, one… you're my number one ghost!'

'That's great,' Rukia mutters, not really listening. 'Those… _things_, the Cyber thing and the other one that started with D… are they aliens too?'

'Yes. And they're nowhere near as friendly as I am. If I'm right, there should only be one Dalek and one Cyberman; they're survivors from my last battle with them. Got so intense I had to send Clara home.'

'Another one of your kind?'

'No, Clara's human. I travel with humans. You know, ones who get bored with their lives and would love an opportunity to see the universe.'

_Someone who travels through space… _Somewhere in Rukia's rather distracted mind, she properly registers that this man really is an alien, and he could possibly be a threat to the lives of the humans here.

'If you really are what you say you are, then I have to be sure that you're not a danger to the human beings,' Rukia says calmly, ready to use her sword if she has to.

The Doctor laughs. 'Quite the opposite, to be honest. I've saved this planet more times than you would ever believe. I like Earth. The human race never stops trying to develop its technology and discover more about the whole big universe out there.'

'Right, well we need to deal with these… Cyber things and the Da… Da… whatever they're called.'

'They're both pretty weakened right now, although that makes them all the more dangerous,' the Doctor tells her. 'There's a chance they might even work together to survive, although the likelihood of that is slim.'

'So they're not actually allies, generally?'

'Nah, they hate each other most of the time. But they have one common enemy that they're very scared of.'

Rukia's eyes widen. 'And what's that?'

The Doctor grins. 'Me.'

* * *

The Dalek moves down the street, not silently, but quiet enough not to wake the people sleeping in the surrounding houses. It scans around, knowing that it is reaching the source of what it has been seeking all along. The Dalek, nor any of its fellow Daleks, have ever come across something like this. Something very powerful is towards the end of this street. A special kind of energy that the Dalek wants to examine. Of course, if the source of the energy turns out to be a life form, then the Dalek knows that it must be exterminated, because it poses a threat to the Daleks existence.

Back with the Doctor, the Dalek remembers a female life form. Something not human, but similar in appearance. That thing, whatever it was, radiated the same energy as whatever this thing is that the Dalek is heading towards. It attempted to exterminate the female life form, but unfortunately she got away.

The Dalek has decided that this great power, this source of energy, will need to be absorbed somehow. It will have to extract it from whatever the source is, because then the Dalek will be powerful. Perhaps powerful enough to beat the Doctor, who up until recently had been a shadowy, unknown figure travelling throughout time and space. The Dalek has no idea that it once, along with all the other Daleks, knew the Doctor as the Predator, or the Oncoming Storm. But all memories of the Doctor were erased from the minds of the Daleks, so this particular one, just like all the others, believes this 'Doctor' to be a new enemy.

This Dalek needs to rebuild its race again, and if it has to exterminate millions in order to gain power, so be it. The Dalek no longer possesses the advanced technology of the Dalek fleet because the ships were destroyed in their last battle with the Doctor. It does not know how to absorb this strange new energy, but if it can't then it will definitely exterminate the source so it doesn't pose a threat.

Finally, the Dalek reaches the source. A medical clinic built into a house. The Dalek scans the house. There are four inhabitants. An adult male and two younger females. The adult male and one of the young females are radiating the energy to quite a degree. The Dalek wonders why two humans posses such a power. No matter. Either the Dalek will find a way to extract the power, or it will simply dispose of the threats.

_**'You are not needed here,' **_comes the cold, metallic voice of a Cyberman. The Dalek turns slowly to see the other creature standing beside the front door of the house, obviously with every intention of entering to take the power for itself.

_**'The Dalek race is of much more relevance than the weaker Cybermen,' **_the Dalek states. _**'As a superior being, I order you to withdraw.'**_

_** 'Or what?'**_

_** 'You will be exterminated.'**_

'How about you both get removed?'

The Dalek and the Cyberman fix their gaze on the oncoming silhouette stepping out of the shadows, sonic screwdriver at the ready.

_**'The Doctor will not interfere with the objectives of a Cyberman,' **_the Cyberman rumbles deeply. _**'This source of energy is necessary for upgrading.'**_

'Yes, yes, I'm well aware you both have some ridiculous theory that you may actually outwit me,' the Doctor chuckles. 'I'm guessing you were drawn to this spot because, as my new friend explained to me, these humans have what my friend calls 'spirit energy'. And you believe you can use that.'

_**'I shall use any means necessary,' **_the Dalek says.

'Yeah? Well I don't think so!' the Doctor says loudly. 'You can try to exterminate me, or delete me, but you know it won't work. I've defeated you both countless times, and you two are the only survivors. So I'm gonna give you the choice I always do: you can leave, or you can try to destroy these humans and I will stop you.'

_** 'The Daleks do not flee from battle!'**_ the Dalek shouts.

'Oh really? I've seen you do it before!' The Doctor turns to the Cyberman. 'And what about you? Same choice as metal moron over there?'

_** 'The Cybermen shall never back down,' **_the Cyberman growls.

Disdain crosses over the Doctor's face. 'Honestly, can you think of something more original? It's always the same decisions with you lot.' He takes a step closer to the other aliens. 'Now, I'm going to give you two other options: either you deactivate yourselves, or I deactivate you.'

_**'Exterminate!' **_the Dalek cries.

_**'Delete!' **_the Cyberman shouts, reaching out its arm to use the gun built in.

The Doctor rolls out the way to avoid being hit. Both attacks hit into nearby buildings, causing minor explosions.

'All right, now I'm getting slightly angry!' the Doctor calls. 'You're both definitely getting on my nerves now!' He points his sonic screwdriver straight at the Dalek, and in a moment of panic the Dalek disappears in a flash.

'So much for 'the Daleks do not flee',' the Doctor mutters. He gazes at the sonic screwdriver, picking up the readings. 'Okay, so still somewhere in this town.'

As he continues to try and locate the Dalek, the Cyberman spies an opportunity because the Doctor has let his guard down. Before it can do anything, however, it notices something beginning to press on its feet. It looks down to see ice creeping up its legs, freezing it in place. The Cyberman begins to struggle, trying to break free.

'Some no Mai,' Rukia chants, landing behind the Cyberman with her released zanpakutô. 'Tsukishiro!'

The Doctor looks up in amazement to see the Cyberman trapped in a wall of ice. After a couple of seconds, the ice shatters, crumbling around and breaking the Cyberman into a million tiny pieces as well.

'Incredible,' the Doctor whispers. 'I have absolutely no doubts- you're _definitely _my number one ghost. There's no competition.'

'Thank you,' Rukia says with a smile. 'I guess this means that all we have to do is deal with the other one now.'

'Yep,' the Doctor confirms, striding towards her. 'I'm a little worried that it might try another attack on this family.'

'The Kurosakis,' Rukia states quietly, gazing up at the house, sensing the spiritual pressures of Isshin and Karin, and the much weaker one of Yuzu's. Ichigo is not back yet, and even if he was, he has no spirit energy left.

'You know them?' the Doctor asks.

'I did,' Rukia murmurs.

'Uh… right. So, do you know where this is?' the Doctor asks, showing her the location he has pinpointed on his sonic screwdriver.

'That's near Orihime's house,' Rukia says, realisation beginning to dawn on her. 'The Dalek must have sensed her spirit energy.'

_Why there, of all places? Why couldn't it have gone after Uryu or Chad? They're much stronger than Orihime. Why does it have to go to the place where she is? … And where _he_ is._

'Right, well, we should take the TARDIS to get there the quickest,' the Doctor suggests.

'The what?' Rukia asks, staring at him.

'The TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space.'

Rukia continues to look at him with a blank expression.

'My space ship,' the Doctor expands.

'Ohh,' Rukia with a realising sigh. 'Well, you can use it, but I'll use flashstep.

'If you do that, you'll probably have finished it off by the time I get there!' the Doctor complains.

'Tough luck,' Rukia grins. 'Catch you later.'

She disappears in a flash.

* * *

'Can I get you anything to drink, Ichigo?' Orihime asks sweetly.

Ichigo, who is just putting the next DVD for them to watch into the DVD player, says, 'I'm okay for the moment, Orihime.'

'Okay.' Orihime skips into the kitchen, deciding to try and locate the chocolate chip muffins she made. For once, she actually followed the recipe so she's hoping Ichigo will like her food, as most people have often complained in the past. But Ichigo's too polite for that anyway. Humming away to herself, she opens up her cupboards, hoping to find them among all the other dishes she has attempted to create. Stopping by the window, she observes the fool moon with a large smile on her face. The stars looks so beautiful tonight…

Something catches her eye, a silhouette crosses her view of the moon. She squints and leans closer to the glass, wondering if it was a bat. No. It was too big for that. Bigger than an owl too. She makes out a large, dark shape approaching the window, and towards the top of it there is a circular glowing like that reminds her of some sort of robotic eye…

_**'Exterminate.'**_

Orihime screams as the glass shatters. She ducks down quickly and some sort of laser crosses over her head and hits the cupboard behind her, setting it on fire.

'Orihime?! What's going on?!'

'Ichigo!' she yells. 'Something's attacking us!' She picks herself up off the grownd, narrowly dodges the dancing flames and races into the lounge where she finds Ichigo standing up, his face shocked.

'What happened-?'

_**'Exterminate!' **_comes the dreadful voice again.

'There's something outside the kitchen window!' Orihime cries. 'The kitchen's on fire!'

Ichigo grabs her arm and quickly pulls her out of the lounge and into the hallway. He wrenches open the door to the apartment and the two of them race out into the night. They run along the balcony outside the apartments and down the stairs, finally reaching solid ground.

'Is it a Hollow?' Ichigo gasps.

'It didn't look like one! I don't know!' Orihime panics, her eyes fearful.

The Dalek rises above the house and surveys the two life forms beneath it. The female has some sort of power, meagre as it may be, and the male has nothing. The Dalek decides to destroy them anyway, even though they're not a major threat.

_**'You will be exterminated,' **_the Dalek announces.

Orihime's hands reach up for her hair clips. 'Koten Zanshun!' she cries. 'I reject!'

The tiny little Tsubaki zooms towards the Dalek, ready to slice it in half…

… and he ends up bouncing pointlessly of the solid metal plates of the Dalek, not causing any damage whatsoever.

'It's no use!' Orihime sobs. 'That thing is too powerful!'

'I can see it, so it can't be a Hollow!' Ichigo states, wondering if he can somehow fight it without his powers.

Only Orihime is able to properly witness what happens next.

Rukia appears behind the Dalek, and she yells, 'Hado Number Thirty-One, Shakkahô!' The Dalek is blasted out of the air by Rukia's red flame cannon, and it goes slamming into the ground behind Ichigo and Orihime. Rukia flashsteps to the ground, and uses her first dance to destroy the Dalek the way she dealt with the Cyberman. As the ice (and the Dalek) shatters around her, she turns to face the boy she loves and the girl he obviously has feeling for.

Orihime looks completely shocked as she mouths Rukia's name.

Rukia gives her a brief nod, and the leaps up into the night.

* * *

She's not entirely sure why she's bothered waiting this long, as he obviously either got lost or didn't bother to come after all. Rukia has all but given up when she sees a strange blue telephone box materialise with a strange whooshing noise. She looks it up and down curiously. At the top is a glowing yellow light, and beneath that is a white plaque reading, 'POLICE BOX', and in between the two words is, 'PUBLIC CALL', in a slightly smaller font. There are six wooden panels on each side of the box, and where the last two should be on the top of each side there are darkened glass windows. As she watches, one of the doors open and the Doctor steps out.

'Hello! What did I miss?'

'Well, the fight's over now,' Rukia mutters, gesturing up towards Orihime's apartment.

The Doctor looks up at the sky. 'Hang on- it's daytime now! How long have I been away?'

Rukia glares at him. 'Twelve hours. You're lucky I waited this long. I've been watching the apartment from the sky all night, and when they went to school I decided to stay here and wait for you to arrive.' Obviously, she doesn't mention how painful it was for her to come terms with Ichigo staying the night at Orihime's house, and how agonising it was to see them walking to school together.

'Did anything bad happen?' the Doctor asks.

Rukia looks thoughtful. 'Well, the Da… whatever, managed to start a minor fire in the kitchen, but it only to them two buckets of water to put it out.'

'No casualties?'

'They're both still alive and uninjured.'

The Doctor smiles. 'Great! I still don't get why the TARDIS took so long getting here. I think it's all that spirit energy as you call it. It must have caused an interference in the console.'

Rukia peers behind him. 'That funny box is your spaceship?'

'Yep, this is the TARDIS!' the Doctor says proudly, rubbing his hand fondly over the blue wood. 'And it's not a funny box! Then again, that's not the worst thing I've heard it being called. I can't believe Clara had the nerve to call it a Snog Box!'

'So, this 'Clara'… does she travel with you?'

'Now and then, yes,' the Doctor answers. 'She's kind of a nanny and so I visit her every so often for us to go on adventures.'

'What were you doing in the last twelve hours?' Rukia demands, still irritated that he took so long showing up.

'Actually, it's only been about five minutes for me,' the Doctor explains. 'You see, the TARDIS doesn't just travel through space but also through time.'

Rukia snorts with laughter. 'Shut up.'

The Doctor looks confused. 'No, I'm serious.'

'Okay, next question,' Rukia says. 'Why does it look like that?'

'Like what?'

'A big blue telephone box,' Rukia points out.

'Oh, the TARDIS is supposed to transform into something that will blend in with its surroundings, but Chameleon Circuit broke in 1963,' the Doctor says. 'I do know how to fix it- all I'd have to so it hotwire the fragment links and supersede the binary…' he trails of at the look on her face. 'Look, point is, I've gotten used to it in this form, and I've grown fond of it.'

Rukia hold up her hands, smiling. 'Okay, whatever you say. It's a bit small, isn't it? I mean, I can see how two people could fit in there, but wouldn't it be a bit cramped?'

The Doctor grins. 'Why don't you come inside and have a look?'

Rukia frowns and steps closer, wondering if she'll find a wall covered in wires and buttons. Because if it is a time machine like he said, that it should have loads of complicated technology, right? The Doctor steps aside and allows Rukia to enter the TARDIS.

Well, she was certainly right about the complicated technology.

The theme is green mostly, with a light shade of the colour glowing in the centre in some sort of tube. The console around it does indeed have many buttons and wires as Rukia suspected, and interior walls of the time machine have strange symbols dotted around. There are stairs leading down to some sort of room beneath the console, and more stairs leading up to a corridor somewhere outside the main room. Which of course brings Rukia to the rather obvious realisation: it's bigger on the inside.

She gasps quietly, gazing in wonder at the time machine. Behind her, the Doctor enters too, grinning from ear to ear at her reaction.

'It's like some sort of… alternate dimension,' Rukia whispers. 'The way it's bigger on the inside and smaller on the outside.'

''Alternate dimension',' the Doctor echoes, looking even happier. 'I like it when people use their imagination like that. Most people just go for the whole, 'It's bigger on the inside!' thing, but you tried to explain why. Very impressive.'

'How did you come by it?' Rukia asks, turning to face him.

'Well, the people on my planet Gallifrey were called Time Lords. I'm a Time Lord. We invented time and space travel.'

'It's amazing,' Rukia says, smiling happily as she gazes up at the huge tube in the centre of the console.

'I never caught your name, you know,' the Doctor reminds her.

'I'm Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki,' she answers, still staring in awe at the many different parts of the TARDIS. 'And I never caught your name.'

'I just go by 'the Doctor',' he answers.

'Why?'

'I don't know. Sometimes they call me 'the Rockmeister'. I'm joking, that never happened. Well, it almost happened, but I'm glad it didn't. I prefer 'the Doctor'. I've been 'the Doctor' for a long time.'

'So,' Rukia says, deciding to conclude everything. 'You're a Time Lord from the planet Gal…'

'Gallifrey.'

'… Gallifrey, you're… how old?'

'Over a thousand,' he grins.

'… Over a thousand years old, and you have a time machine called the TARDIS,' Rukia continues. 'You've saved the earth countless times from… other aliens, I presume?'

'Yes, mostly,' he answers. 'Sometimes I have to save the human race from themselves. They can be so dumb. No offence.'

'None taken, as I'm not human. So anyway, you're somehow able to see me, a spirit being, and those other aliens were able to as well. So, in conclusion, you're a time travelling alien that protects the human race-'

'And other planets, too,' the Doctor interrupts.

'A time travelling alien who protects and saves loads of planets,' Rukia corrects herself, and the Doctor looks pleased. 'And… you wear a bow tie.'

'Bow ties are cool,' he says. 'So are fezzes and Stetsons, for future reference.'

'Okay. Fair enough.'

'So, Rukia Kuchiki, the Ghost Girl, what do you think to all of this.'

'You're mad.'

'A mad man with a box,' he grins. 'And with access to all of time and space. It's fun. It's dangerous. And there's an awful lot of running to do.' He straightens his bow tie and there's an excited shine in his eyes. 'How would you like to travel with me?'

Rukia's eyes widen in surprise. 'Wha… what?'

'You're resourceful and brave, basically my companions in a nutshell,' the Doctor continues. 'I can take you anywhere you like. You can see multiple moons while standing on other planets. I can show you the wonders of the universe. Exploding stars. Supernovas. Nebulas entering black holes. There is _a lot_ to see. And a lot of people and planets to save.'

Every single word sends a shiver of excitement through Rukia's petite body. The whole universe. This is greater than the concept of separate worlds such as Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society. This is the most incredible thing she has ever heard. She has only just met this man and already she feels she can trust him, just like how she did with… _him._

'But… I'm the lieutenant of Squad Thirteen in the Soul Society,' she murmurs sadly. 'There's so much work I have to do already… the idea of travelling, getting out of this place…' _Away from Ichigo…_ '… it's something I can only dream of.'

She wants to get away so badly. The everyday routine of staying in the same place, along with her broken heart, is dragging her down and she really wants _out. _But she can't. No one else would ever understand. How would she explain it to Captain Ukitake, or Renji, or Byakuya? She has duties she is expected to fulfil. She has a life here. But it's no life, not any more. To get away… would be perfect.

'You know,' the Doctor says slowly, a twinkle in his eyes. 'I did say this is a time machine. You could spend weeks, months, travelling through time and space, and you could arrive back here merely minutes after.'

'But you were only gone five minutes, and you arrived back here twelve hours later,' Rukia points out.

He laughs. 'As I said, I think it was interference from the spirit energy. But what are twelve hours, really? Twelve hours to those who wait for you- that's nothing. I had a friend who waited twelve years for me to come and get her. And an additional two years before she could finally travel with me.'

'And where are all these friends of yours now?'

'Well, as I said, I visit Clara every so often. And the Ponds- sorry, Amy and Rory- they got trapped in the past, but they lived happily ever after together. There have been others.' The Doctor's face grows darker as he becomes serious. 'Some stopped travelling with me and settled down. Some got left behind. It's not always safe, travelling with me.'

'Well, I don't exactly live a safe life anyway,' Rukia points out. 'I risk my life fighting Hollows every day.'

The Doctor looks directly at her. 'So, is that a yes?'

'Perhaps,' Rukia smiles, loving the idea of this. It is definitely a yes. Anywhere in all of time and space- who could say no? 'I'll need to get a gigai first, though.'

'A what?'

'A temporary body we Soul Reapers use. That way humans will be able to see us, and we can pass as ordinary humans. I'm probably going to need one if I'm going to be helping other people.'

'Absolutely,' the Doctor agrees. 'Do you know where to get one?'

'Yep,' Rukia says, striding over to the TARDIS door. She turns her head before she leaves. 'Don't you go _anywhere_. I'm coming right back.'

'I'll be waiting,' the Doctor grins. Once she's out the door he rests his hands against the console and leans on it. 'Rukia Kuchiki,' he murmurs. 'The Ghost Girl. Yeah, I like the sound of that. First the Girl who Waited, then the Impossible Girl, now the Ghost Girl. My companions have _awesome _titles. This is going to be _very_ exciting.'

* * *

**And that is the longest chapter I've ever written off any of my FanFictions.**

**Remember to review!**

**Bye~**


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